


A Thousand Things

by asamiruria



Category: Mother 3
Genre: Bedtime Stories, Blood and Injury, Gen, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Reimagining of the Mother 3 ending, Vocaloid Songfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-20 20:39:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11928831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asamiruria/pseuds/asamiruria
Summary: A collection of oneshots centering around the twins and possibly Kumatora in the future.1. Hope - Hinawa tells her sons a very important bedtime story.2. Earth - Of all the stars and planets shimmering in the sky, Earth is the brightest and only one of its kind. Songfic + more optimistic reimagining of the Mother 3 ending.





	1. Hope

**Author's Note:**

> uh so these are a bunch of oneshots i wrote when i was 12 lmao. i've revised them and am importing them to ao3 bc i'm actually kinda proud of them?? so enjoy i guess.

Lucas could still clearly remember his mother's soft, sweet voice as she read him and Claus their routine bedtime story after having tucked them safely in their blankets. He had loved the way she would soothingly card her fingers through their hair as she told tales of brave knights, dragons, princesses, frogs, fairy godmothers and glass-slipper dropping girls. Claus, naturally, had tried to deny his enjoyment of these fairy tales by continuously complaining that he was too old for them. But, halfway into the story, he would be staring as raptly at his mother as Lucas.

Most of these fairy tales had been pushed to the back of his no-longer-innocent mind. No longer did he have faith in fairy godmothers that could make your dearest wish come true. He did not believe in any of his childhood fantasies anymore, really. He had prayed, wished with all his might that it was all a horrible nightmare, that when he woke up his mother would be at his side holding him and whispering reassurances and that his brother would be calling him a big baby and laughing heartily. None of his desperate pleas had been answered by anything that might have been out there, however. He was sure no old granny waving a sparkly magic wand could bring half of his family back to life and drive an army-ful of men in pig suits, their 'king', and their strange metal contraptions off his homeland anyway.

There was one special story, however, that had braved the currents and whirlpools of bad memories and dark thoughts and fought its way to break the surface of the waters of his mind. It was special, because it wasn't one of the usual childish tales purely for the purpose of making a child squeal with excitement when their favourite heroic knight fought off the evil fire-breathing dragon. It did not have any of those foolish notions or imaginary characters.

" _ **Alright boys, it's time for bed!" Hinawa called over the shouts and squeals of the two boys rolling around on the floor.**_

" _ **Yay! Do we get a story tonight too, Mummy?" Lucas asked, his soft voice high with excitement.**_

" _ **Of course, dear," his mother replied, smiling sweetly.**_

" _ **Aw...do we have to, Mum? We're too old for bedtime stories! You should know that, Lucas," his twin grumbled.**_

" _ **Now, now, Claus, I have a special story tonight," Hinawa laughed.**_

" _**Ooh! What is it, what is it?" The younger twin bounced excitedly. The prospect of a hearing another story of a princess and prince living happily ever after was just about the only thing that could make Lucas as excitable as he was now.**_

" _ **You'll both have to come to bed to find out!"**_

_**After brushing their teeth and changing into their respectively red and blue striped pyjamas (Lucas eagerly and Claus with much groaning and scoffing), the twins were finally settled in their shared bed.** _

" _ **We're in bed, so can we hear the story now, Mummy?" Lucas asked.**_

" _ **Now, this is an important tale," Hinawa said, her voice and expression more serious than usual.**_

_**Lucas leaned forward, prepared to drink every one of his mother's words, while in as Claus turned away, looking disgruntled.** _

" _ **Listen carefully and try to figure out the moral of the story," Hinawa instructed. "Yes, you too, Claus," she added in the direction of her eldest child.**_

_**Claus made a 'hmm' sound, and grudgingly turned his body to the front, facing his amused mother with a sullen expression.** _

" _ **Good. Now that we're all ready, I'll start," their mother smiled.**_

" _ **This story is called Pandora's Box. Once upon a time..." Hinawa began.**_

" _ **I hate how the stories always begin with 'once upon a time'. It's so babyish!" Claus whined.**_

" _ **Claus, do you want me to tell you the story or not?" Hinawa's voice had gained a sharp edge.**_

" _ **Claus, be quiet! I want to listen!" Lucas hissed.**_

_**Hinawa and Claus looked at Lucas in surprise. Lucas usually never got angry, hostile or aggressive to any degree. In fact he was usually the complete opposite. Fortunately, the revelation that Lucas wasn't completely incapable of asserting himself shut Claus up, allowing Hinawa to continue.** _

" ** _O_** _ **nce upon a time, on a tall mountain named Olympus, many Greek gods resided**_ _ **. The king of the gods, Zeus, was angry at a human called Prometheus for stealing fire from the gods."**_

" _ **Wait, so humans didn't have fire before Pro... Prome... ugh, whatever, stole it from the gods?" Claus asked, already forgetting about his earlier reluctance to hear the story. "Why didn't Zeus want humans to have fire? And how did he steal it anyway?"**_

" _ **Well, according to Greek mythology they didn't. Zeus didn't like humans much, and that's a story for another time." Hinawa answered each question in rapid succession.**_

" _ **To take revenge on Prometheus, Zeus ordered Hephaestus, the god of the forge, to create the first woman on earth. Her name was Pandora. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, gave her clothes and intelligence; Aphrodite, the goddess of love, gave her beauty; and Hermes, the god of boundaries, gave her the ability to speak.**_

_**"Zeus presented her to Prometheus' slower-thinking younger brother Epimetheus as a bride. Along with her came a box gilded in gold and decorated with gems, and a label telling the newlyweds to never open it. Epimetheus was so dazzled by the beauty of his bride that he forgot his shrewd brother Prometheus' advice to 'never accept gifts from Zeus'. He also thought they were supposed to hold the box in safe-keeping for Zeus until his return – that it wasn't a gift at all.** _

_**"Epimetheus insisted that his wife obey the instructions on the label. Unfortunately, one day, Prometheus left Pandora's side for a few hours. Even more unfortunately, curiosity was one of the gifts bestowed to her by the gods. The box was a gift, she reasoned, so why shouldn't she open it? Maybe if she just took a quick peek...** _

_**"Looking around to make sure the coast was clear, Pandora lifted the ornate lid just a crack. But the lid flew open, and terrible, howling forms gushed forth. Hatred, toil, illness, sadness, death, guilt, cowardice, gluttony and infinite other sins flew out and became present in the world of humans. No longer could humans live an easy life with nothing to worry about. Now they would have to labour, strife and succumb to illness.** _

_**"Pandora immediately regretted disobeying the words on the label. She realised what she had brought about on the world. The room had become dark in the wake of the evil that had filled it, but then, Pandora saw a light. It was tiny, but bright, so very bright, like a flame defiantly resisting the wind.** _ _**Very carefully, afraid of unleashing another evil, she picked it up. It unfurled in her hand like a flower, grew brighter, and then flew out in pursuit of the evils that had been in the box with it.** _

_**"While, according to Greek mythology, it was Pandora's fault that all these sins exist, the tiny light made to combat all these evils was also unleashed by her. We call this light Hope."** _

_**As Hinawa finished speaking, she looked at her sons in surprise. They would usually interrupt every three sentences or so to ask questions. Though, she reasoned, this was a special story, not like the meaningless fairy tales she usually told them.** _

_**Claus was sitting up straight, his emerald eyes sparkling with interest while Lucas huddled slightly into the blankets, his cerulean eyes wide.** _

" _ **That was the best story ever!" Claus shouted gleefully. "Mum, you should tell stories like that more often!"**_

" _ **I will, if you like," Hinawa said, taken aback by her eldest son's enthusiasm. "But first, you have to tell me the moral of this story."**_

" _ **Umm..." Claus seemed to ponder this for a moment. Lucas remained in the same huddled position he had been in after Hinawa had finished telling the myth.**_

" _ **I know!" Claus exclaimed at last. "You shouldn't be curious and you should always listen to tags on boxes!"**_

_**Hinawa laughed at his childish interpretation of the story. "Yes, the story certainly does teach you that. But that's not quite the one I'm thinking of. See if you can guess it!"** _

_**Claus thought for a moment again. Finally, he said, "I don't know..." He seemed disappointed.** _

_**But then, a small voice spoke up. "As long as you have Hope, everything will be alright." Lucas intoned in a faraway voice.** _

_**Surprised for the third time in one night, Hinawa exclaimed, "That's right! Well done, Lucas."** _

_**Claus pouted, and resumed his sullen attitude. He was not used to Lucas beating him at anything.** _

Lucas did not sleep well for days after that particular tale. His slumber was plagued with nightmares of his family and the Tazmily villagers being devoured by terrifying wraiths which came out of strange, pink boxes. Pandora's Box became his least favourite bedtime story, and had remained so until now.

Thinking back, Lucas realised that perhaps the nightmares he had had were visions of the future created by his just-awakening PSI, foretelling the coming of the Pigmasks and their 'Happy Boxes' and money, which had caused sins like greed and hatred to corrupt the villagers' minds.

Perhaps his mother had known that they would have to make use of the story someday. After all, Pandora's Box was too sombre and profound a story to be telling five year olds. Perhaps she had known, even though their lives were so carefree and blissfully ignorant back then, that one day, Hope would be the only thing driving them forward and keeping them from giving up, as the ghosts from the box wrapped around them, trying to strangle them to death.

Lucas thanked his mother for whatever had compelled her to tell the myth to him. The moral she had instructed them to take heed of had been effective in the long run. Now, the Hope in the midst of so many evils was the only thing sustaining his and his friends' resolve, the only thing that had allowed him to fight and sacrifice so much, the only thing that had made him strong enough to accept the burden of the world's fate on his shoulders instead of breaking down.

He had just one needle to go. And the only thing keeping him from pulling it was the other person who had heard the tale, his beloved twin, who had also received the message of Hope. So, with that very virtue at his back, he dove forward, towards his long lost brother, urging him to wake up, urging him to remember Hope.


	2. Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of all the planets and stars shimmering in the sky, Earth is the brightest and only one of its kind. 
> 
> A more optimistic reimagining of Mother 3's ending, based on "Earth Song" by Daisuke-P ft. Hatsune Miku.

You hung on to the charred, bloody corpse in your arms like your life depended on it. Your sanity certainly did. If you moved from this spot, let the trace of your brother's scent underlying the much stronger smells of smoke and burnt flesh die away, and dared to raise your head and face the real world, you would surely go crazy. You felt the world spinning dizzyingly around you. Your head, churning with a tempest of overwhelming emotions, throbbed and felt as heavy as a boulder. The agony of the gash on your shoulder, your fractured rib, and twisted ankle only added to the tumult of sensations washing over you.

You felt your father's reassuring hand on your uninjured shoulder, heard the meant-to-be-comforting voices of your friends. They seemed to reach your ears from far away, slurred and dreamlike.

Something penetrated the haze of numbness. The body in your arms, your anchor, was being taken away from you. You held on as tight as you could, but the combination of your numb shock and your injuries significantly weakened you, and Claus eventually slipped from your arms.

Slowly, you turned you head to face your comrades and father. The haze clouding your vision and hearing dissipated slightly, and you heard your father's voice telling you that your twin had just been hasty like he always was, and that you needed to forgive him, that both Claus and Hinawa had entrusted fate to you, and that all their lives were in your hands now. You knew what you were supposed to do next. Pull the glistening needle embedded in the cracked ground, the only one you hadn't touched yet, the last of the objects over which you had unknowingly fought with your beloved twin so many times. How could you save this world, this Earth, when the very fabric your own world was tearing down all around you?

Suddenly, you felt the familiar, cool sensation of PK Lifeup caress your exhausted body, stitching up your wounds and restoring your physical energy. A hand came onto your shoulder, smaller, and different in texture to the callused palms of your father. The voice that accompanied the hand began to speak.

"Lucas. You gotta do this. Pull yourself together and get up! Like your dad said, your brother and mother've put their trust in you. If you’re gonna sit here and sulk all day, that would defeat the purpose of their sacrifices, wouldn’t it?”

As if a wakeup call had sounded, you snapped out of your daze. The princess was right. She, your friends, your father, mother, twin, the rest of the Tazmily villagers, this whole Earth, they were all depending on you. You’d endured countless obstacles and setbacks, and despite everything, had gotten this far. You couldn't turn back now, or you’d let them, and most of all, yourself, down.

Full of newly gained determination, you got up without difficulty from your injuries due to Kumatora's PSI, and walked slowly, surely, forward. It seemed an eternity before you reached the golden rod of light, but must have only been a few seconds.

You placed your hands almost reverently on the bars of the Needle. This was it. The lives of everyone on the entire planet were in your hands. You would either succeed or fail. Mustering up all your strength and courage, you _pulled_.

A sensation familiar to you, but a hundred times stronger, surrounded you as the needle arced upwards from your hands. Glowing blue lines of PK Love ran across your vision and radiated from the Needle’s indent outward on the ground. Power surged through every vein in your body, burning so hot and bright you thought your skin would crack from the sheer intensity of it. The thunderous rumble of an earthquake shook the cavern.

Suddenly, all the chaos slowed to a standstill, and the kaleidoscope of colours faded away. It was completely silent. You looked around in confusion; this had never happened before.

The cavern and your father and friends were gone. You were alone in a space that was completely black, but at the same time, emanated a sort of inexplicable light. In the centre of it all was a brilliant, blue and green sphere of radiance. As you looked upon it, it shone so brightly you were forced to turn away. The glow eventually dimmed, and the object revealed itself to be a tiny, picture-perfect model of the Earth.

You gasped in wonder. You had never seen your home planet from outside of it. It was truly a magnificent sight. The Earth slowly floated over to rest in the palm of your cupped hands. You waited for a moment, unsure of what to do. Then, a soft sound broke the silence.

 _Sotto sotto mimi wo sumashite_ _  
_Mawaru mawaru kaze no uta_  
_Kirari kirari hikaru mizu mo_  
_Zutto kawaranu daichi__

**I listen softly, softly to**

**The song of the flowing, flowing wind**

**Even the sparkling water**

**And the forever unchanging earth**

A voice singing so quietly, you thought you were imagining it. Gradually, it grew louder.

 _Sugi kaze daichi wo kake meguri_ _  
_Utau midori no umi_  
_Doko made mo tsuzuku aoi sora_  
_Tori tachi ga jiyuu ni mau__

**A cool breeze runs over the land**

**The singing green ocean**

**A boundless blue sky**

**The birds fly about freely**

Another voice joined it. Then another, and another.

 _Totemo chiisana_

_Moshi tsubusare sou na inochi mo_

_Ima wo kenmei ni_

_Iki tsuzukeru_

**Even the small**

**Lives that are likely to be crushed**

**Continue to**

**Live eargerly**

One by one, voices added themselves to the choir.

_Yama mo umi mo_

_Midori no daichi mo_

_Utau utau inochi no uta_

_Ikiru ikiru seippai ni_

_Itsuka kowaru inochi demo_

**Mountains, oceans**

**The green land**

**Sing, sing, the song of life**

**I live, live life to its fullest**

**Even though it's a life that will end someday**

_Sotto sotto mimi wo sumashite_

_Mawaru mawaru aoi hoshi no_

_Kirari kirari hikaru mizu no_

_Zutto kawaranu daichi_

**I listen softly, softly to**

**The spinning, spinning blue planet**

**Even the sparkling water**

**And the forever unchanging earth**

At last, there were so many voices singing that they had become one. Slowly, you realised that these were the voices of every person on earth. Voices quiet, loud, sad, happy, strong, and full of emotion; they were all there. You could clearly pick out the voices of the Tazmily villagers, your father, and your friends.

It wasn't in a language you recognised, but somehow, you understood the meaning. It was as if you’d known this song all your life. Maybe you had. Maybe this was the song of the very Earth itself, embedded in all the souls that walked its surface from birth.

_Toki ni yasashiku_

_Toki ni zankokude_

_Bokura wo nosete_

_Mawari tsuzukeru_

**In kind times**

**And in cruel times**

**It gives us a ride**

**And continues to spin**

The song escalated to a climax. You felt tears start to sting your eyes. _‘The earth is singing too_ _,’_ you thought.  _‘_ _Singing its song with its people_ _.’_

Suddenly, all the voices stopped singing at once. There was only soft piano music left. Then two voices, voices that hadn’t been singing before, reached your ears.

_Aoi aoi mizu no hoshi_

_Sora no naka tatta hitotsu_

_Kirari kirari kagayaku wa_

_Futatsu to onaji mono wa nai_

**The blue, blue water planet**

**Is the only one of its kind in the sky**

**Out of all the things shimmering**

**There isn't anything else like it**

You couldn't have mistaken them for anything. The tears burst free, streaming down your face.

The song rose to a climax again, the thousands of voices rising in passion, but with the voices of your mother and brother were still clearly distinguishable. A strong yearning surged through you, and you opened your mouth, adding your own voice to the swell, singing the last chorus with all your might, all your emotion, all your being.

_Sotto sotto mimi wo sumashite_

_Mawaru mawaru aoi chikyuu_

_Kurai kurai sora no naka_

_Hitotsu dake no hoshi_

**I listen softly, softly to**

**The spinning, spinning blue earth**

**In the dark, dark sky**

**There is only one planet of its kind**

The song finished with a sigh, your soul trembling with its final notes. As the music died away, the faces of your mother and brother flashed for a second, smiling warmly at you. They left behind echoing traces of their voices. "Make the right decision Lucas, we know you will. We love you..."

You were left standing alone in the black space once more, holding the Earth in your hands. In your peripheral vision, you saw a huge, majestic reptilian with glowing yellow eyes. You raised your head resolutely to face the Dark Dragon. Boy and deity contemplated each other for a moment, and then the dragon’s voice sounded, thrumming with power.

**_Lucas of Tazmily, wielder of Love. You have pulled the Seven Needles and woken me from my centuries' long slumber. Now, I am at your command. I must destroy or cleanse and recreate the world as you wish._ **

You thought of your mother and brother's parting words. You would not fail. You would make the right decision. Would you destroy all of existence, or restore it? This Earth had already seen too many hardships, too many deaths. It had been tainted and corrupted, seemingly beyond repair.

But then, you remembered the song. There was no other beautiful, blue shimmering planet of water quite like Earth in the sky. And you knew what you must do.

You smiled, raising your eyes to meet the limitless age and wisdom of Dark Dragon's amber gaze. You cradled the tiny model of your world in your hands, and concentrated, imparting your heart, your most fervent desire, to the god who would be their enactor. The Dragon roared, and took flight. You watched as the little Earth glowed brighter and brighter, illuminating the entire space until everything was a searing white and you were forced to close your eyes again, spinning into unconsciousness.

_Streams winding through the meadows, trees standing tall, sunflowers waving in the breeze..._

_Twin pairs of eyelids fluttering open to reveal azure blue and jade green..._

 


End file.
